Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens doesn't mind having to hear it from his players after they disagree with a play. Most recently, it was star Kyrie Irving visibly frustrated with a late-game play call against the Orlando Magic that had teammate Gordon Hayward inbound the ball to second-year forward Jayson Tatum, who took a contested fadeaway jumper and missed, squandering a potential game-winning chance.
“I'm always listening. I think it's important to be a listener,” said Stevens, according to Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. “Like, the other day we had something drawn up, but I think Icy felt more comfortable doing something different and he expressed it in a good way and we made a small tweak. We had a couple of great options on that action and JT had a great look. And that's good. I love that. I want feedback. I think that's good. If guys are going to go out and make plays, ultimately, they've got to be comfortable doing that, so, that's part of it. I think a coach's job is to ultimately have a plan but be able to listen to make sure everybody feels good about it.”
Stevens is a player's coach who is always willing to lend an ear to a concern, yet Irving was fuming after his coach had drawn the play, isolating him in the backcourt while his other three teammates had a better chance to get the ball for the last play.
The Celtics had only 2.9 seconds to get off a shot, so putting Irving, the team's best player, as a decoy at half court was an interesting call:
Another look at Kyrie in the huddle before Celtics' last shot.
Irving appeared to disagree with Brad Stevens' call… pic.twitter.com/GZfi6xewjD
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 13, 2019
Irving was consequently upset with teammate Gordon Hayward, who inbounded it to Tatum for the last shot:
Kyrie didn’t look happy after this final play in the Celtics’ loss. pic.twitter.com/lPnsjjfg1G
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 13, 2019
Brad Stevens will have a lot of explaining to do for this play, but at least he's willing to openly listen to Irving and company after two straight losses through this short road trip.